The present disclosure relates to pickup truck bed tonneau covers, and more particularly to support structures for such tonneau covers with flexible textile coverings.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. This section also provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features, nor are the features summarized herein essential aspects of the disclosure.
Pickup truck tonneau covers can include an outer frame with several intermediate cross-car rails spanning between opposing sides of the outer rail. These intermediate rails span the cross-car width of the pickup truck bed and are unsupported, except at their ends. A flexible fabric cover can be supported by and coupled to this frame and intermediate rail supporting structure.
Pickup truck tonneau covers can be subjected to considerable downward forces in use. For example, snow can potentially generate snow loads on the tonneau cover of 15.6 pounds per square foot. This can impart considerable forces to the supporting structure, including the intermediate cross-car rails. To meet these loads, high strength materials and large cross sections are typically used for these intermediate cross-car rails. Unfortunately, both of these solutions tend to increase the weight and costs of the tonneau cover, which is undesirable.
A reduction in weight and cost can be accomplished by providing a supporting intermediate cross-car structure that permits the use of lower strength materials and smaller cross-sections (less material), while still adequately managing the loads encountered without undue displacement.
In one aspect of the present disclosure a pickup truck bed tonneau cover includes an outer frame comprising a front frame member, a rear frame member, a side frame member and an opposing side frame member. The outer frame is configured to substantially correspond to a perimeter of the pickup truck bed. A pair of intermediate rail brackets is coupled to opposing sides of the outer frame so that a first of the pair of intermediate rail brackets is coupled to one side frame member and a second of the pair of intermediate rail brackets is coupled to an opposing side frame member. An intermediate rail member spans between, and is coupled to, the pair of intermediate rail brackets so that each end of the intermediate rail member is coupled to one of the pair of intermediate rail brackets, the intermediate rail member is bowed upwardly along an elongated length of the intermediate rail member. A wire tension member spans between each end of the intermediate rail member, the wire tension member is coupled to each end of the intermediate rail member. A flexible textile member covers and is supported by the intermediate rail member and is coupled to the outer frame.
Another aspect of the present disclosure is a method of manufacturing a pickup truck bed tonneau cover. The method includes providing a generally rectangular outer frame with a configuration that substantially corresponds to a pickup truck bed perimeter. A plurality of elongated intermediate rails are formed to have an upwardly bowed shape along a length of each bowed intermediate rail. A first end of each bowed intermediate rail is coupled to one side of the outer frame and an opposing end of each bowed intermediate rail is coupled to an opposing side of the outer frame. A first end of a wire tension member is coupled to the first end of each bowed intermediate rail and an opposing end of the wire tension member is coupled to the opposing end of each bowed intermediate rail. A flexible textile member is positioned over the outer frame and bowed intermediate rails and coupled to the outer frame.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary and in the following description are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.